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Abstract

The perceived effects of six distinct sports on the femininity of women participants were rated by both men and women. The raters were 132 volunteers (47 men and 85 women) taking undergraduate psychology classes at Brigham Young University. The men and women raters were randomly assigned to two groups. A video group was shown a 15-min. videotape of women athletes participating in the six sports before completing their ratings. The nonvideo group made their ratings without looking at the videotape. A two (sex of rater) by two (video vs nonvideo) by six (type of sport, a repeated measure) analysis of variance yielded no significant difference between the men and women raters. However, both viewing the video and the specific sport involved produced significant differences. In general, participation in sport by women was not seen as substantially enhancing or detracting from their femininity. Some sports were regarded as more consistent with femininity than others. Viewing a videotape of women participating in sports lowered the ratings by both men and women of the contribution of sport participation to femininity.

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Perceived Effects on Femininity of the Participation of Women in Sport

Abstract

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